This article is a quick gear preview of a jacket we’ve had in testing since a while but haven’t been very lucky with the weather (way not enough rain…) to actually put it to a proper in depth review.
The Columbia Ultrachange EVAP jacket is will be available this autumn winter 2012 and will probably be in the high end range of the brand. It is a 3-in-1 jacket composed of a waterproof/breathable shell and a synthetic insulation layer. Every Omni-things the Columbia has this jacket has it too.
The shell is a 2.5 layer Omni-Dry with Omni-Wick EVAP inside for better evaporation. The one we have here is a very nice neon yellow but it will probably come in different colours. It packs very small, and weights an incredible 278g (9.8oz) for the size S women.
The inner layer is Omni-Shield on the outside (water repellent) and has a Omni-Heat lining.
We will be writing a complete review of this jacket hopefully soon but the warm weather and the lack of rain here in Spain has delayed testing a bit. Surely our Perú-Bolivia trip in September will help us out. Let’s say for now that first impressions are very good.